My Neighbor Explained to Me About His Daily Bouts with Chronic Pain

I was watching a neighbor dig out a level spot in his yard to build a pizza oven. He is about the same age as me, and he works as hard as he can. He is not the picture of health, but he can get a lot of things done. I watched him dig bent over for a while, then he would stand upright again in stages. He supported himself on the shovel working his back straight a little at a time until he could stand upright again. I told him about a chiropractor in Petaluma that could help him. He told me how he needed to do something as it was getting worse.

He was explaining to me how people told him to take his skills in doing things such as building a pizza oven and use it to make money. However, they did not notice how long it took him to finish projects such as putting in edging around his trees or digging out the base area for the oven. He would work and then sometimes take a day or two off from it. He explained how it was impossible for his back to hold up doing that kind of work eight hours five days per week. Sometimes, he said, the pain is so bad that he can hardly move afterwards for three or four days.

I noticed that he would sometimes not come out until the early afternoon or evening to work too. He said how it took him that long to loosen up the stiffness in his back. One thing that changed for him was the ending of the chronic pain after visiting the chiropractor in Petaluma. Now he can do more each day. He is not at the point of building outdoor ovens for a living, but he is doing a lot better and standing up again after digging for a while.